Discover the basic auto maintenance program for your vehicle and save in maintenance costs.

When evaluating that the cost of vehicle neglect, usually the cost is in the hundreds or thousands of dollars when you take them to a mechanic that is why it is important that we should know the basic auto maintenance. When doing this maintenance, start by using the vehicle maintenance owner's manual to determine the best maintenance schedule for the vehicle you have. If the manual is not available, you can buy the electronic version usually found in the internet for reasonable fee.

Some important highlights of basic auto maintenance are:

Performing regular maintenance check ups will help prolong the life of your vehicle tires, parts, brakes and other vehicle components. When servicing the brakes, always ensure to gather the old brake parts for recycling. The brake fluids does not need to be replaced unless there is a presence of brake fluid contamination or if a brake leak is detected. On most newer brake system, a sensor is used to monitor the brake fluid level or determine if the brakes needs some work or not. This is usually activated in the master cylinder where the sensor is located.

Most newer vehicle has front wheel drive axle system and as such, has a CV joint used to transfer the engine torque to the front tires. This CV joints should be monitored and greased if possible. The most common failure for this part is the cracking or breaking the rubber cover. As soon as this is detected, the CV joint rubber must be covered to prevent dirt contact with the bearings.

Among common maintenance used are engine oil change, tires checks and rotations, belts inspection, brakes inspection, spark plugs and wires check ups and replaced if necessary including fuel injector servicing. A better way of getting a tune up is now done by having a complete engine analysis that can also checked the over all safety of the vehicle. Actually, an emission test is the best way to check engine performance by scanning all the engine sensors. Such sensors such as oxygen , tps, coolant, idle air control sensors can be tested by the scanner before they break down. This is the most important step necessary to make sure the engine parts are in top shape.

Under inflated tires can lower gas mileage by 0.4 percent for every drop of 1 psi of tire pressure. In essence, a proper inflated tires not only save you gas but give you safer driving environment.

It is a good practice to monitor the battery condition all the time. Check for signs of corrosion in the battery post and make sure to check it for cracks and boiling which shows that the charging system is over charging.

Always check your engine belts like the ones used for steering, water pump, alternators and crankshaft drive pulleys. When serpentine belt is used, monitor them for belt noise which shows that the belt tensioner is worn (serpetine belt is a multiple groove belt used to replaced the old multiple belt system).

Servicing the transmission is usually done by dropping the trany oil pan at suggested vehicle maintenance interval. When done, the trany can be checked for signs of trany oil discoloration or presence of debris in the old oil which suggest that the trany itself is failing. After inspection, a new trany oil filter should be installed to increase the life of the transmission. On some vehicle models, the trany solenoids can be tested whenever the trany oil pan is dropped.

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